Hybris - the preferred English spelling is hubris - could be called a historical and philosophical reflection on the time-honored rise and decline of nations. Hubris is the wanton arrogance and eventual over-reach of the all-powerful, be they persons or nations. The subject of this study is the USA. The time is now. Never before in human history has one nation been so dominant worldwide in economic, political, cultural and military influence. This reflection devotes much time to the concept and reality of a culture crust, which incases each nation, even the most democratic, free and open. It is possible that culture is the true carrier of history. Culture shapes, and in turn is shaped by, the way people in each nation think, feel, act and talk. Mostly, they are comfortable in their culture cocoon. Multi-ethnic states with tension and strife are the exception, however. It is likely that most Americans reject the notion of such a crust. There are so many varieties of them, for one thing. They are free to travel. They follow the news. Theirs is the most open of countries and in the view of more than just a few, the greatest. But outsiders see the United States increasingly not only as powerful but markedly uniform and different from their lands, in its behavior, world view and the exercise of that very power. Inside the crust, however, few are able to look at their nation as a foreigner would and does. The very distinctiveness of America is a relatively new phenomenon and not unrelated to the enormity of its power. The second thrust of the book relates to the Middle East. September 11, 2001, came first. Second, the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians is seen as the "conflict of the century." The war in Iraq is viewed as a "fatal distraction" from the justified war on terror. The reasons for the Iraq war, both real and professed, are examined in some detail. The benign neglect of the former struggle and the hot pursuit of the latter war are interpreted as strate
